


Forget Me Not

by lanaismykhaleesi



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 14:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22717336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanaismykhaleesi/pseuds/lanaismykhaleesi
Summary: A First Curse AU with a twist :)More to Come!!
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Henry Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Roland, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Robin Hood, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> To my sweet Love From OQ Valentine that I've had the please of getting to know @EQChemistry! It's been lovely getting to know you sweets! <3

She’s a horrible mother. She should be tortured, beaten and hanged for this.

She doesn’t deserve to have a son. She’s the worst, most vile mother in all the realms. She’s betrayed him, created a dark black hole in his precious heart and it’s all her fault. With her confession she’s broken him, created cracks and gashes filled with pain and loneliness that she knows she’s just not enough to fill.

She had confessed to him that he was adopted.

She knew it was coming, He’s just turned nine now and it was the only time. He’s such an inquisitive and smart boy, always learning and asking questions, challenging everything. He is so bright eyed, and so sweet. And she has broken him, cracked his perfect little heart into a million little pieces. He deserves better, someone better.

She knew it was coming, was stupid to think that this was a conversation she would never have to have with him. She had hoped that the static, timeless magic over the curse would have somehow made him forget about who his father could be.

But, just like everything in her life, it mocked her, trashed her hopes that somehow the magic keeping the town in a repeating state of forgetfulness did nothing to him.

So she sits here now, all alone, nursing a cup of whiskey in her study. She goes over every single horrible, disgusting thing she has done that has led her to this moment, the one where her son looked at her with eyes welling with tears. He doesn’t reject her, doesn’t push her away, but there’s this gnawing self doubt in her head, pounding at her that she’s betrayed him.

She keeps replaying the entire conversation, her continued reassurances to him about how she chose him, how he chose her. That they were family, that she loved him unconditionally, effortlessly. That he was her son, her baby boy - her family. 

He nodded, understanding her words through waterfalls of salty tears that wouldn't stop staining his cheeks. She hugged him as tightly as he would allow, wiped away his tears and kissed his cheeks, the crown of his head repeated over and over how much she loved him. 

She would always love him. That was a promise, always and forever.

He said nothing, couldn’t muster a single word through his muffled cries. She had chosen his room as the place to tell him. It was his safe place, where he once stayed nestled on his bed for weeks as he scoured over the pages of Harry Potter and fell in love with books. They both sat cross-legged, facing one another on the floor, where he learned to take his first steps just a few weeks before he hit his first year. His room was the place where they shared their favorite memories, from reading Dr. Suess books, learning to count to twenty and making countless arts and crafts. And now she has tainted that place with the confession that someone out there didn’t want him.

She hoped she had chosen correctly, tried to assure him that he had done nothing wrong and that his biological parents loved him, that they had done it all to give him his best chance.

Truthfully, whoever that woman was, she could care less what became of her. Regina had chosen her son, had chosen him every day since the moment he came into her arms - and he is all that matters.

She was furious with herself, though. She should have listened to all those expert recommendations she read in baby books and blogs. It’s best to tell them when they are young, to normalize the adoption process. She was selfish, scared, and couldn’t scrounge up the courage to say those words aloud until now. All because he had asked and asked for the past few weeks. 

He has asked her once. She had been working on the plans for a new playground at Storybrooke Elementary. He came in with a plate of warm cookies and placed them on her desk. He was silent at first, munched a bit on the gooey chocolate and then started talking about his friend Jackson, and how Jackson’s dad would take him on hikes and play basketball with him. How Jackson’s dad helped him with his homework and taught him how to make a kite from sticks, construction paper and string. 

Then he asked, “Where’s my dad?”

She froze, felt the force of her frightened heart pounding at her chest as her mind went blank, and white noise filled her ears. She couldn’t answer, shock overcoming her until Henry asked a second time. 

She didn’t tell him then, avoided the question telling him that it was too late to have that conversation. Even when he questioned her a third time, she neglected to tell him. Instead, she raised her voice, trying to sound angry to stop his questioning. She supposes it was an impulse, she was fearful and caught off guard and she was wrong to raise her voice and make him feel like he has no right to question her.

Cora did that, would shut down any form of challenge to her ways. Would belittle her and make her feel small, make her feel weak. She promised herself she wouldn’t do that to Henry. He was quiet, almost timid the next morning around her. She thought by avoiding telling him, by hoping it would pass, that it would help the matter, that maybe it was a phase he was in, but she was wrong. She started to see the anger beginning to grow, the reclusive behavior and the silence overcoming. She couldn’t lose him, so she decided to tell him the truth.

He’s so brave, so strong. After he managed to tamp down his tears, he asked her in between sniffles if he could be alone. She hesitated, waited, hoping that he would change his mind but he didn’t… so she obliged, gave him one last kiss on his forehead and left him alone.

She sits alone now, thinking over every single moment, every bit of betrayal and all of the crushed hearts that have led her to this very moment.


	2. Chapter 2

_ 29 years ago - Enchanted Forest _

She was going to win. She would finally have her victory over Snow White. This curse, the curse to end all curses, would lead her to have the vengeance she is owed. She would avenge Daniel, prove to her mother that she  _ is _ the daughter she wanted her to be, and she will prove to herself that she doesn’t need anyone, that she can stand on her own feel and that love is not

She feels a bubbling sense of victory as her carriage rides through the muddy roads of the Enchanted Forest. She can nearly taste her revenge coming into fruition, she’s loved the thrill of the chase, has revelled seeing Snow White cower and hide behind her protectors not willing to face her. She’s still that insipid, scared child, expecting everyone to wait on her hand and foot, to solve her problems with a simple clap of her hands.

She hates her, her mere presence revolts her. She fantasizes moments where the Earth could grant her a kindness and devours her flesh, let her flesh rot among escraments and worms eat through her until there’s nothing left but a forgotten memory of her. 

She put a brave face at her wedding, the shepherd as always running to protect her. But she knows her better, has learned to read her face like it’s her own throughout the years. Through that mask of bravery there was fear lingering, and she’s glad she’s not forgotten the power that she holds over her, that she remembers every single horrible thing she’s done in the name of the betrayal Snow White cost her.

She plans to start on the curse as soon as she gets back to her castle. To begin assembling the darkest of souls in this realm to bring forth a new world, a new curse where all those so called heroes who’ve taken happiness from her and her associates have them ripped away, memories forgotten and their lives stripped of any hope of a happy life.

Her eyes are hypnotized on the moss that fills this part of the Enchanted Forest. Her carriage rides swiftly, the moss that grows around the high trees near Sherwood Forest reminds her of the green hills of the manor she once lived in, of a sweet stable boy whose memory she does her best to keep locked away in the back of her mind. She won’t cry, won’t let her eyes even water at the thought of his loss. She won’t allow herself to revert back to that broken weak girl she once was.

She’s come too far. Risked too much.

As she closes her eyes to stop the coming tears, she tilts her head back, doing her best to refocus herself and -  _ THWACK! _

The horses come full stop, neighing frantically as she begins to hear the clashing of swords and yells from her guards.

“ _ Protect the Queen!” _

For a moment, she’s frozen still, realizing that her carriage and her men are being ambushed. She can’t recall ever encountering this. She’s feared in this kingdom, they all know better than to attack her or her guard. They ambushed her royal carriages filled with gold coins and jewels, she’s used to that from thieves and bandits around the realm. She’s managed to find ways to track all her thieves down and have them spend a few months in the dungeons to teach them a lesson. It’s a simple game of cat and mouse she plays with them. This is different,  _ never  _ have they ambushed even attacked her own carriage.

This is personal.

She swings the door open, extending her hand out as the cool breeze encircles her wrists and threads over her finger tips, her magic quickly wrapping itself around the perimeter, freezing every single person within the perimeter of her carriage.

She treads carefully, stepping onto the soiled earth as she looks about the bloody view. Some of her men are injured bleeding out as others lay clearly dead. Her horses are injured, tangled around their restraints. She looks about the road, trying to see as far off into the distance as possible. 

The wind has gone silent, only a fresh soft breeze that barely makes a noise among the high waving leaves. She’s armed herself, her magic lingering at her tips, energy buzzing at her center ready to be released at any sudden change. She hears a rustling high in tbe branches, her eyes try to follow the noise but it’s no use. 

There’s more rustling on the opposite side now, the breaking of a branch near her left, it’s close. 

Before she can turn herself about, she feels a deep shark pain entering through her back and shooting through her front. She loses control in that moment, her magic leaving its hold and rippling out to unfreeze the fighting men. The noise pierces into her ears, shrieking at her brain. The searing pain at her side is still there and as she looks down to feel where that painful sensation comes from, she feels a sharp metal spear. She looks down, realizing that bloody arrowhead comes from the arrow that's puncture through her is sticky, a red film covered over the wooden arrow.

Her blood. 

They men continue raging on, her men begin to fall one by one. She does her best to try to conjure a fireball, but it seems her magic has weakened with one clean shot. She looks back down at the arrows that impaled her, and through the roaring yells she notices the district black tar like substance now mixed with her own blood. Squid ink. She’s weakened, powerless as her men begin to fall one by one for her to fend for herself. 

The pain is too much, she feels pressure at her chest as the blood continues to run down her torso, her eyesight blurry as she sees the last of her men fall. As she does her best to hold off the flow of blood, and leans against her carriage, she starts to feel her legs shake, weakening as she kneels on the muddy floor. Puddles of blood and limbs scattered about as she looks up to see those who’ve rendered her weak.

They’re all hooded, carefully masked as they approach her, arrows and swords raised in offense. She can only make out blurred images as her sight begins to go blank, losing all sense of coherence as she welcomes her resignation.

They will kill her.Whoever this foe is is powerful, willing to pay a high price and risk greatly to defeat her. She regains her strength, the squid ink’s power will fade, and she’ll have her magic, that is if she doesn’t die first from this injury. 

She can’t fight back, her body willing itself to shut down. As one of the hooded figures approaches her, with a raised sword ready to attack, a sudden  _ swoosh! _ hits the man in the head and falls to his death. An arrow perfectly aimed at the back of the hooded figures head. And just like that the rest fall, one arrow after the other, perfectly impaling every single hooded figure. 

She doesn’t recall anything else after that, only a voice calling to her, strong arms raising her from her near death and tells her,  _ “Milady, you’re injured.” _


End file.
